You have to meet Jessica Earley: Artist Jessica Earley is putting on a parade for herself Sunday, December 14 to commemorate her 10,000 day of being alive (minus the nine months she didn't breathe oxygen inside her Mother's womb). She's new to Orlando and has some past projects that involve Twitter, photography and puppets. Hello, you have to meet her. (If you have a suggestion for someone we have to meet, send me an email: orlandoarts AT markbaratelli DOT com)
TDC: You're going to present a solo parade. What can people expect to see?
Jessica Earley: The idea is that I will be walking 10,000 steps to commemorate my 10,000th day alive. Each step will be a rememberence for each and every day I have breathed oxygen. So the days spent inside my mother's uterus don't count.
I will be walking from the entrance of my apartment to the entrance of the photobooth at Stardust Video. This is about a five mile walk which should calculate roughly to 10,000 steps. At the end I may have to compensate with giant steps or baby steps. On a battery powered portable cassette player, I will be airing recordings of myself reading random passages from over the years from my personal journal. There will also be relevant songs played, like Terry Jack's Seasons In the Sun and They Might Be Giant's "Older."
TDC: What's your background?
Jessica Earley: I have a background in photography and graphic design education. I graduated from a community college in New Jersey with an A.A.S. degree in Visual Communications Technology. After receiving my formal education, all of my knowledge has come from trial and error, living in poverty, and continuously rediscovering childhood.
In November I did a solo performance in Puppets From The Edge at the Orlando Puppet Festival. I also did a one day Twitter project last month where I "twitted" for the first and only time ever for one whole day. Although people were following this project, the concept was very personal. I really just wanted to experience and gain insight into what it takes to constantly prove you are alive in a day. I realized, it's very hard work proving you are alive, especially if you don't have an I-phone.
Most of my artwork before this has been very disposable. It is either in the trash, in my mom's attic, or buried somewhere crumbled up on the bottom of my closet. Perhaps age might help me to become better at hoarding and collecting. I am going to be 10,000 days alive very soon!
TDC: Where did you get the idea?
Jessica Earley: The idea sprung from a conversation with Brian Feldman, a local performance artist, who announced to me that I would be 10,000 days old very soon. His iPhone application told him so. I knew immediately that there was no possibility of letting this day pass by like any other, so I scheduled the day off from work and started thinking of ways to celebrate.
I stuck with the parade idea because I feel it is the most celebratory and also, I have never had my own parade before. I also decided to do it solo because I want to really reflect on the steps I am taking. However, if anyone chooses to join me in my parade, I would be happy to have the commradity. Maybe you could even become my drum major (bring your own drum!) or my new best friend (we could be best friends for 22, 647 days if i live to be 100 years!)
TDC: How will you document it?
Jessica Earley: I'll be making a video documentation of the event and when I arrive at my destination I will be taking photo booth pictures (at Stardust).
TDC: What in Orlando excites you?
Jessica Earley: I have only been living in Orlando since February, and seeing Brian Feldman jump off of a ladder at city hall for 24 hours on Leap Year Day was one of my first introductions to the city. It made me happy that I moved here.
I used to live very close to New York City and I have a tendency to crave an almost over stimulation of arts. I really appreciate the feeling I get from Orlando. The feeling that it really cares about the arts and that it puts time and money and love into keeping the local creative spark alive. It feels like there is so much potential here, like things are growing and budding up everywhere.
An example of something that I feel has exciting potential is The Black Box Collective warehouse downtown on West Central Blvd. It is a fairly new, non-profit community show space, run solely by volunteers. I love the sort of places, spaces and things that give a truly open door feeling where anyone could potentially walk in off the street or out into the street and make something spectacular happen.
TDC: Recommend an upcoming event.
Jessica Earley: There is a Grandma Party Bizaar on December 21st at Stardust Video and Coffee. An event where you can have fun AND get last minute holiday shopping done!
TDC: What's next for you?
Jessica Earley: A friend of mine, Brian Phillips, who is an awesome painter and illustrator, has been discussing doing a joint exhibit of paintings we have made. This is still in the air as we haven't figured out the location of our exhibition.
In April, I plan to have a photo, video and sound installation for First Thursday's theme "A Touch of Glass" at the Orlando Museum of Art. There are several ideas that I have involving sound, image and interaction that I hope to make public in the near future.
Also, I plan to apply for the United Arts Professional Development Grant next year and make a fantastic super 8 film about depression in women. Oh yeah, and I'm starting a band for people who don't know how to play musical instruments. And, living each day as if I were counting!
Read More Artist Profiles Here
TDC: You're going to present a solo parade. What can people expect to see?
Jessica Earley: The idea is that I will be walking 10,000 steps to commemorate my 10,000th day alive. Each step will be a rememberence for each and every day I have breathed oxygen. So the days spent inside my mother's uterus don't count.
I will be walking from the entrance of my apartment to the entrance of the photobooth at Stardust Video. This is about a five mile walk which should calculate roughly to 10,000 steps. At the end I may have to compensate with giant steps or baby steps. On a battery powered portable cassette player, I will be airing recordings of myself reading random passages from over the years from my personal journal. There will also be relevant songs played, like Terry Jack's Seasons In the Sun and They Might Be Giant's "Older."
TDC: What's your background?
Jessica Earley: I have a background in photography and graphic design education. I graduated from a community college in New Jersey with an A.A.S. degree in Visual Communications Technology. After receiving my formal education, all of my knowledge has come from trial and error, living in poverty, and continuously rediscovering childhood.
In November I did a solo performance in Puppets From The Edge at the Orlando Puppet Festival. I also did a one day Twitter project last month where I "twitted" for the first and only time ever for one whole day. Although people were following this project, the concept was very personal. I really just wanted to experience and gain insight into what it takes to constantly prove you are alive in a day. I realized, it's very hard work proving you are alive, especially if you don't have an I-phone.
Most of my artwork before this has been very disposable. It is either in the trash, in my mom's attic, or buried somewhere crumbled up on the bottom of my closet. Perhaps age might help me to become better at hoarding and collecting. I am going to be 10,000 days alive very soon!
TDC: Where did you get the idea?
Jessica Earley: The idea sprung from a conversation with Brian Feldman, a local performance artist, who announced to me that I would be 10,000 days old very soon. His iPhone application told him so. I knew immediately that there was no possibility of letting this day pass by like any other, so I scheduled the day off from work and started thinking of ways to celebrate.
I stuck with the parade idea because I feel it is the most celebratory and also, I have never had my own parade before. I also decided to do it solo because I want to really reflect on the steps I am taking. However, if anyone chooses to join me in my parade, I would be happy to have the commradity. Maybe you could even become my drum major (bring your own drum!) or my new best friend (we could be best friends for 22, 647 days if i live to be 100 years!)
TDC: How will you document it?
Jessica Earley: I'll be making a video documentation of the event and when I arrive at my destination I will be taking photo booth pictures (at Stardust).
TDC: What in Orlando excites you?
Jessica Earley: I have only been living in Orlando since February, and seeing Brian Feldman jump off of a ladder at city hall for 24 hours on Leap Year Day was one of my first introductions to the city. It made me happy that I moved here.
I used to live very close to New York City and I have a tendency to crave an almost over stimulation of arts. I really appreciate the feeling I get from Orlando. The feeling that it really cares about the arts and that it puts time and money and love into keeping the local creative spark alive. It feels like there is so much potential here, like things are growing and budding up everywhere.
An example of something that I feel has exciting potential is The Black Box Collective warehouse downtown on West Central Blvd. It is a fairly new, non-profit community show space, run solely by volunteers. I love the sort of places, spaces and things that give a truly open door feeling where anyone could potentially walk in off the street or out into the street and make something spectacular happen.
TDC: Recommend an upcoming event.
Jessica Earley: There is a Grandma Party Bizaar on December 21st at Stardust Video and Coffee. An event where you can have fun AND get last minute holiday shopping done!
TDC: What's next for you?
Jessica Earley: A friend of mine, Brian Phillips, who is an awesome painter and illustrator, has been discussing doing a joint exhibit of paintings we have made. This is still in the air as we haven't figured out the location of our exhibition.
In April, I plan to have a photo, video and sound installation for First Thursday's theme "A Touch of Glass" at the Orlando Museum of Art. There are several ideas that I have involving sound, image and interaction that I hope to make public in the near future.
Also, I plan to apply for the United Arts Professional Development Grant next year and make a fantastic super 8 film about depression in women. Oh yeah, and I'm starting a band for people who don't know how to play musical instruments. And, living each day as if I were counting!
